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Trent Bridge's pavilion is one of the last untouched buildings among the great cricket grounds of England.

Free from redevelopment and expansion, it is adorned with paintings of servants of years gone by, a significant amount of years gone by in fact.

Paintings of more modern heroes are rare, if not non-existent, but that has changed now after a portrait of Chris Read was painted by ones of his heroes.

A case of from poster to canvas, Read's likeness has been painted by Jack Russell - another of county cricket's great glovemen and Gloucestershire's wicketkeeper when Read first joined them more than 20 years ago.

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Read admits it was an honour to have fellow former England wicketkeeper Russell, now a respected artist, commissioned by Nottinghamshire to paint his portrait.

"For Jack Russell to paint me, it is great," Read said. "I started at Gloucestershire so if you go back to 1996 or '97 and first meeting Jack, I had his poster on my wall as a kid.

"For him to come to my house at the end of last year and then go away and paint me like that is a great honour."

Read is now a piece of Trent Bridge's history having left what he calls the 'Notts bubble' after 20 seasons at the club, during which time he crafted his legacy as one of their greatest players, before retiring last September.

After spending so much of his life as the leader in the home dressing room and the talisman in the middle, Read admits there was some trepidation that he may miss the game when April came around and he was not pulling on a Notts shirt for the first time in two decades.

However, it was to his relief that was not the case.

"Life is treating me well. Believe it or not, I don't miss it," he said.

"I was ready to go and leave the game. I was really happy to go out on a high note.

"I would have been naive to think that fast forward six months and I'll definitely be fine. I always kept in my head that come April I might feel like I wanted to be playing and that I'd really be missing it.

"It's actually quite pleasant that I'm not missing it and I'm happy that I bowed out at the right time."

Read is now director of cricket at Uppingham School as he enters the 'real world' - although working at a public school means he can retain links with Notts in an informal coaching role.

He is likely to be around regularly during the peak summer weeks, when they will look to defend their Vitality Blast title.

"I've very much been in touch with people at Notts still. With holidays at school I've been able to get in and do a few days here and there," he said.

"I also went to South Africa with the team for a week in March. I've seen bits and bobs and it's nice to have a balance when I'm out of the Notts bubble, but can cast a fresh pair of eyes on things when I do come in.